A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto on an object such as a substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which may be an object such as an mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on an object such as a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the “scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In a lithographic apparatus the substrate may be positioned underneath the projection system for projection of the image of the patterning device on target portions of the substrate. To project the image of the patterning device on different target portions of the substrate and to scan the substrate underneath the projection system the substrate needs to be moved. A substrate table is therefore provided with a substrate holder which is moveable by a substrate table. The substrate table is transferring its movements via the substrate holder to the substrate. The substrate holder may be clamped to the substrate chuck via a friction based interface preloaded e.g. by vacuum pressure or electrostatic pressure. A higher throughput of the lithographic projection apparatus can be achieved by faster movements of the substrate underneath the projection system. The faster movements will be achieved by higher accelerations which may cause (local) slip and hysteresis in position of the substrate holder relative to the substrate table. If a (local) slip and hysteresis occurs between the substrate table and the substrate holder, the substrate may be at another position than previously determined and be potentially distorted. This may lead to wrongly exposed substrates after the acceleration has ended with negative effect on overlay.